Census shows growth in number of interracial couples

Apr. 25, 2012

Written by

Sharon Jayson

USA Today

Households with interracial opposite-sex married couples grew by 28 percent in the past decade, according to new Census data released Wednesday. Numbers show an increase from 7 percent of married couples’ households in 2000 to 10 percent in 2010.

The percentage of interracial opposite-sex unmarried partners also increased, as did interracial same-sex unmarried partners. In 2010, 18 percent of heterosexual, unmarried partners were of a different race or ethnicity and 21 percent of same-sex partners were interracial or interethnic.

Among interracial married couples, “the most frequent combination is a non-Hispanic married to a Hispanic,” says Rose Kreider, who oversees family statistics at the Census.

Data show that 45 percent of interracial married couple households are that combination, she says.

Kreider says this comparison over the past decade is particularly significant because the same definitions and questions were used in 2000 and 2010. That had not been the case in the past, and it “allows us to compare the changes in the makeup of interracial couples and growth in interracial couples over time.”

In some parts of the country with fewer Hispanics, the percentage interracial married couple households is lower. In Ohio, for example, only 35 percent of households were a non-Hispanic married to a Hispanic; in Kentucky, it’s just 32 percent of such households.

Married interracial households (including those with a partner of a different Hispanic origin) generally are most numerous in the West, making up 15.9 percent there compared to 9.5 percent nationally.

In Ohio, such households make up 4.9 percent of all married households. In Kentucky, they make up 4.1 percent of married households, the third lowest level in the nation (ahead of West Virginia and Mississippi).

Among unmarried opposite-sex households, interracial households make up 18.3 percent of all U.S. households. That compares to 12.4 percent in Ohio and 10.8 percent in Kentucky.

The report also showed other trends in households across the nation from 2000 to 2010, including:

• The number of non-family households increased 16 percent, from 34 million in to 39 million, while family households increased 8 percent, from 72 million to 78 million.

• The percentage of households containing just one person increased from 25.8 percent to 26.7 percent. In Ohio, such households make up 28.9 percent of all households and 27.5 percent in Kentucky.

• Unmarried partner households grew from 5.5 million or 5 percent of households in 2000 to 7.7 million or 6.6 percent of households in 2010.

• Multigenerational households containing three or more parent-child generations rose from 3.9 million in 2000 to 5.1 million in 2010; 9 percent of households in Hawaii were multigenerational, the highest percentage of any state.

• The percentage of households with those under age 18 dropped from 36 percent to 33 percent.

• The percentage of households with anyone age 65 and older increased from 23 percent to 25 percent.